Leaving aside for just a second how we may feel about the merits new Tory/Lib coalition, I just checked out the site above and was dismayed - though not surprised - to find not one single person on the proposed new cabinet who is not a middle-aged white male. Yawn. Sigh. This is so damn boring. Not to mention exclusive, patronising, depressing, and I could go on. I don't know these politicians well enough to judge them and they may well be very good at their jobs, but this cabinet doesn't represent me fully, not to mention all the many other people who look at them and see an old boys' club which they are not - and possibly never have been - members of. Never mind electoral reform, why do I feel like UK politics is stuck in the dark ages? Having attended debates in the European Parliament I am almost embarrassed when I watch our lower house on television. A rowdy rabble of bully boys intent on shouting one another down, possibly in the most insidiously insulting fashion they can find. Think Nigel Farage and his recent comments to the new EU President. It feels to me that our political traditions, and debating traditions, favour those who have been brought up in the arrogance that they are better than everyone else. So little wonder then, perhaps...

Thursday, 6 May 2010

What do we mean by friendship? Can we be friends with all sorts of different people, even those whose values are not a 100% match to our own? What is the price of authenticity?

I read an article recently according to which breaking off with a friend can be just as painful as breaking with a romantic partner. When friendships end, it seems there's often no real end to speak of, no closure. I've always felt that listening and offering support have been part of friendship. Someone I believe to be very wise recently told me that for her friendship means sharing her truth. She is a person who sees many things, but does not share them with people she knows less well. Sharing truth can be difficult, particularly when we know the other person will not agree or not want to hear. Where is the line between authenticity and sharing our truth and accepting other's truths and not being just plain antagonistic?

It's election day, woohoo! This is probably the first time in my voting life (15 years, gasp!) that I have felt quite so excited about an election. I will be glued to the radio over the next two days until we get the final result. Ever the optimist, I hope for progress in this one. Let's more forward, not back!

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I am on semi-permanent sabbatical in Belgium from the UK. I live in Brussels where I am in touch with people of many different cultural backgrounds. My centre of interest is largely still the UK, but I also have a semi-regular eye on what's happening in the low countries and the rest of "the continent". I am often glad to be shot of British society.. Living in a kind of no woman's land where I am outside the local culture everywhere I go can make it easier just to be me.